Over 1,000 Syrians died in Mezzeh Airport Prison under Assad: Report

More than 1,000 Syrians died in detention at a military airport near Damascus, with executions, torture, and maltreatment cited as causes, according to a report set for release on Thursday according to Reuters‘s coverage.

The report, published by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC), identifies seven suspected grave sites linked to the Mezzeh military airport, a facility feared for its role in enforced disappearances.

Mass graves identified through testimony, satellite imagery

The SJAC report, shared exclusively with Reuters, relied on a combination of witness statements, satellite imagery, and leaked documents to track the grave sites.

Some are located within the airport grounds, while others are spread across Damascus.

While Reuters did not independently verify the mass graves, its review of satellite images showed disturbed earth in areas pinpointed by SJAC.

Two locations—one on the Mezzeh airport property and another at a cemetery in Najha—showed clear signs of long trenches dug during periods consistent with witness testimony.

Torture, executions, and severe conditions at Mezzeh Prison

Shadi Haroun, one of the report’s authors and a former detainee, described the brutal conditions inside the facility, where he was held from 2011 to 2012 for organizing protests.

“Death came in many forms,” Haroun told Reuters. He recalled hearing sporadic gunshots every few days, suggesting executions were taking place.

Other prisoners suffered untreated injuries that worsened, sometimes leading to amputations.

The report also draws on testimony from 156 survivors and eight former members of Syria‘s Air Force Intelligence, the agency responsible for detaining and executing regime critics.

The new Syrian government, which replaced President Bashar al-Assad’s administration in December, has banned former regime officials from speaking publicly, leaving no one available to comment.

Missing persons and the search for more graves

The extent of the mass graves remains unclear, but a high-ranking official in Syria’s new Interior Ministry, who identified himself as Abu Baker, said the findings align with what the government already suspects.

“Although some of the graves mentioned in the report had not been discovered before, the discovery itself does not surprise us, as we know that there are more than 100,000 missing persons in Assad’s prisons,” he said.

“Discovering the fates of those missing persons and searching for more graves is one of the greatest legacies left by the Assad regime.”

Mezzeh Prison’s role in enforced disappearances

According to the report, Mezzeh military airport played a significant role in Syria’s system of enforced disappearances, detaining at least 29,000 people between 2011 and 2017.

By 2020, Air Force Intelligence had converted multiple hangars, dormitories, and offices into detention centers.

The estimated death toll of 1,154 detainees comes from leaked Air Force intelligence documents, cross-checked with witness testimony. The figure does not include executions carried out under military field court sentences issued within a hangar at Mezzeh.

Witnesses described systematic executions, with officers and soldiers being shot by firing squads while civilians were hanged. Some of those executed were reportedly buried near the hangar.

War crimes charges, international response

In December, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed war crimes charges against two senior Syrian Air Force intelligence officers. The charges accuse them of overseeing the torture and inhumane treatment of detainees at Mezzeh, including U.S. citizens.

The revelations from the SJAC report contribute to ongoing international efforts to hold those responsible for human rights abuses in Syria accountable.